The 68th National Film Awards were announced on Friday, and the titles have piqued our interest to watch out!
The Best Actor award went to Suriya and Ajay Devgn for their roles in the movies Soorarai Pottru’ and ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior,’ respectively.
More awards like the Best Hindi Film, Best Popular Film, and Best Feature Film were presented to several outstanding movies. There were around 300 feature films and 150 non-feature films in 50 categories and 30 different languages.
Here is a selection of the winning movies to watch on OTT, the perfect binge-list for a lazy weekend.
Soorarai Pottru – The Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay, Best Music Direction (Background Score), Best Actor & Best Actress
The Tamil word – ‘soorarai Pottru’ stands for ‘Victory to Veer.’ It is directed by Sudha Kongara and stars Suriya and Aparna Balamurali in the lead roles. The movie tells the story of Nedumaran Rajangam, a man with aspirations of starting his airline, but, he has to face many challenges to fulfill his dream. He gets stumbled everywhere. He faces challenges everywhere, yet he never gives up and realizes his dream. It makes air travel affordable for the common person. The life of Captain GR Gopinath, the man who founded Air Deccan served as inspiration in the storyline.
Watch ‘Soorarai Pottru’ on Amazon Prime Video.
Tanhaji: the Unsung Warrior – Best Actor, Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Costume Design
The historical blockbuster, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior directed by Om Raut, stars Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kajol, Sharad Kelkar, Devdatta Nage, and Neha Sharma, among others. The film follows the life of Tanhaji Malusare, a fierce Maratha warrior who was a close military advisor to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It focuses on the epic Battle of Sinhagad in 1670, in which Tanhaji faced off against Rajput warrior Udaybhan, who was fighting for Aurangzeb against the Marathas.
Watch ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ on Hotstar.
Ayyapanum Koshiyum – Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Female Playback Singer, Best Action Direction and Best Stunt Choreography
Malayalam thriller, Ayyapanum Koshiyum is directed by Sachidanandan KR and stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Biju Menon and Lakshmi Priyaa in the lead roles. The movie is about two men, Ayyappan Nair and Koshy Kurien, who belong to entirely different life experiences and backgrounds but what brings these two men together in a nearly three-hour long movie is their ego and their inconsolable need to establish their superiority over the other. The movie revolves around the clash of both.
Watch ‘Ayyapanum Koshiyum’ on Amazon Prime Video.
Toolsidas Junior – Best Hindi Film
A film based on it’s director’s life Mridul Mahendra, hinself, ‘Toolsidas Junior’ stars Sanjay Dutt and Varun Buddhadev. The movie depicts how Toolsidas Junior, young, is forced to undertake the impossible task of bringing his father’s name to the winner’s board after witnessing his father lose the 1994 Club Snooker Championship and tries to reclaim his father’s glory by having success in the snooker tournament. Rajiv Kapoor played Mridul’s father role.
Watch ‘Toolsidas Junior’ on Netflix.
Mandela – Best Screenplay (Dialogues) & Indira Gandhi Award for the Best Debut Film of a Director
The movie, which takes its name from the late South African president Nelson Mandela, is set in a small village which follows panchayat election system. The struggle of two political parties to take control of the village is portrayed in the film. In an odd turn of events, the vote of a local Dalit barber ultimately serves as the tie-breaker between the parties to decide the outcome of the whole election.
Watch ‘Mandela’ on Netflix.